What’s the Difference Between a Tactical and Survival Knife?

If there is one thing that all preppers love it is debating the merits of various pieces of gear for various purposes. One of the most beloved pieces of prepper gear is the humble knife. Everyone has a favorite, and everyone has an opinion as to which knife should carry you through a SHTF situation. Some people recommend a tactical knife and others recommend a survival knife.

What is the difference between tactical and survival knives? A survival knife is specially designed for tasks like chopping, battening and hammering, and they usually include built-in survival kits or survival supplies, typically hidden in the handle or sheath. Tactical knives on the other hand are typically defense or combat-oriented, usually being weighted and balanced for fighting, as well as various tactical tasks like cutting through webbing or breaking glass.

While it is true that nearly any knife can work if you can, your knife selection should be dictated by your requirements and your environment. In the remainder of this article, we will provide you some tips, explanations and considerations that will help you select the right knife for your particular job.

Knife Selection Matters

Many preppers and survivalists consider one cardinal rule applicable to most any survival situation: simply, you must have a knife. But not all knives are created equal, and using the wrong knife for the task at hand is bound to make the work much, much harder if not more dangerous.

While it is true that you should count your lucky stars if you have a quality blade at all when you need one, you can improve your chances of survival or success even farther by picking the right blade from the outset.

If the task you have at hand includes processing a considerable amount of wood for a fire or shelter creation you will need something much sturdier so your blade that can handle the innate abuse that comes with such a job.

If you need a knife optimized for dealing with two-legged threats in life-threatening hand-to-hand encounters then the knife you choose will probably look quite different from the first one.

What you should do now is take stock of your requirements: What do you anticipate facing in the most likely survival situations?

What kinds of characteristics or features are needed in the knife that will help you negotiate such a trial? Once you start asking the right questions the answer will become clear.

Tactical Knives

• useful for self-defense
• breaking windows
• improved grip

A tactical knife is one that is designed to help the wielder solve “tactical” problems. You might say that problems of this type are of a human-created nature.

These problems might take the form of an attack, necessitating that the knife be used as a self-defense weapon, or it could be some other problem such as a wire obstacle or obstruction, a window that needs breaking, heavy nails or staples holding a crate shut or something else.

Your typical tactical knife usually ranges from a medium to a large build. As a rule they are not extremely thick or extremely heavy, as is typical with survival and other kinds of knives designed for processing a considerable amount of wood.

Survival knives often have secondary tools integrated into them, such as a recessed, crescent-shaped line or webbing cutters that is just the trick for slicing through seat belts or load-bearing vests, or short, sharp conical studs that are perfect for shattering windows with a single blow.

All of these features are intended to help the person using the knife navigate problems that are endemic to tactical environments.

One feature you can generally depend on being present with any tactical knife of any make, model or style is a thin, slick and “snagless” blade design.

Point geometry is often optimized for stabbing, and the rest of the blade designed in such a way that resistance on the withdrawal is minimized. It would not do to thrust a tactical knife home into an enemy or even some inanimate objects that need puncturing only to have it get stuck!

One other feature common on tactical knives is an aggressively sculpted or textured handle that will more or less lock the knife into the user’s hand no matter the conditions and no matter the task.

This often comes at a cost to long-duration use, as such handle or scale designs are likely to cause hot spots and blisters. This is a trade-off, as with all elements of knife design, intended to maximize grip for short-duration, high-intensity periods of use.

Survival knives

• useful for batoning wood
• serrated spine to saw wood
• may have other survival items inside the handle

Survival knives are those that are optimized for, you guessed it, survival. But what does that mean? Typically survival knives are optimized for helping you shelter and sustain yourself in wilderness environments, and particularly in wooded environments.

These knives are, as a general rule, overbuilt with thick, heavy-duty blades and positively chunky, flat spines suitable for batoning through wood.

The edge of a survival knife often places a premium on edge longevity and durability, again to survive repeated chops into tough wood that would quickly dull or ruin the edge of lesser knives.

The choice and design of the point is less important, and can be had in a multitude of styles. Some points are better for scraping while others are better for precision work.

One feature that periodically makes an appearance on survival knives is a partially serrated spine or edge that can help you saw through wood when required.

The handles of survival knives are usually designed to provide a happy medium between a secure grip and a comfortable one.

If you spend a long time processing or batoning wood, your hand will begin to ache something fierce, and any shortcomings in the ergonomics of a knife will readily become apparent as hotspots which will quickly progress to blisters.

The handle of a good survival knife will be designed in such a way that minimizes the occurrence of hot spots and blisters.

The other standout feature of survival knives is their typical inclusion of an integrated survival kit or survival supplies. Most quality and intelligently-designed survival knives will have the goodies stashed on or in the sheath.

Some knives have the supplies placed beneath the scales of an otherwise full tang handle. A few survival knives, typically bad ones, have a hollow, round grip that serves as a container for the survival kit.

With scarce few exceptions these knives are typically of poor quality. Stick to the former and avoid the ladder.

Conclusion

Tactical knives and survival knives can work to nearly any prepper’s advantage, the choice coming down to which problems you anticipate when the time comes to implement your survival plan.

A tactical knife can help you deal with more human-centric problems, whereas a survival knife will give you a leg up on typical shelter and sustainment tasks.

via Modern Survival Online https://ift.tt/2ZNEbJx

Is War Between the U.S. and Russia Possible?

Though, in recent years, the United States and Russia have enjoyed amicable, if uneasy, good relations, the question that remains perched on the edge of everyone’s lips is if these two superpowers might yet come to blows overtly.

Though the Russian Bear might be sleeping, as far as the United States is concerned, Russia remains a world power in every sense of the word, one whose star has been ascendant for some time despite the media’s focus on the runaway success of China.

It goes without saying that true, open conflict between superpowers of such stature would have nothing short of grievous consequences for both nations, militarily, economically, and socially.

Though, for some decades now, cooler heads have prevailed, and any honest actors who are saying have a vested interest in avoiding such an outcome, the possibility of such is never truly out of the question.

As both nations move into an increasingly volatile and ever-shifting global political landscape, the portentous question remains: is a “hot” war between the U.S. and Russia possible, and how likely is such an event to occur?

In this article we will explore this question and do our best to assess the variables.

The Lingering Cold War

Most of our readers born before the mid-nineties are entirely acquainted with the Cold War, that period of global tension between Russia and the U.S. that reached a boiling point on the very precipice of thermonuclear war between the two major powers, before thankfully being averted.

Though the exact beginning and duration of the Cold War is disputed among historians and students of the subject, it can generally be said to have begun in the late 1940’s, and lasted clear through the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990’s.

What is indisputable, however, is how the intervening decades of shadow war shaped and continues to shape U.S.-Russia relations today.

The Cold War got its name because it was not a shooting war, or “hot” war.

Instead of being fought directly between the principal belligerents with troops, tanks, bombers and nukes, it was fought through increasingly intricate, elaborate and sometimes downright crazy spy games, the sponsoring of proxy conflicts, economic sanctions, and general meddling in the other’s affairs while maintaining plausible deniability.

Back then, this Cold War escalated, degree by degree, bit by bit, a policy of brinkmanship in slow motion. These subtle moves were arguably designed to stymie the opponent more than they were to advance the interests of the acting nations.

But inevitably the global movement and readying of strategic weapons by both sides, culminating in the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, meant that no one was under any Illusions as to the frothing enmity between the two giants.

As such, an entire generation grew up in the shadow of the atom, knowing that death from nuclear fire and indeed a genuine global apocalypse was all too real, even increasingly likely.

But, as fortune or success would have it, the tide turned against Russia and the U.S.S.R. in the aftermath of the crisis, with China, Russia’s communist ideology “sibling” splitting off to pursue their own fortunes, the US making greater headway with allies in Europe and finally the dreadful economic stagnation in the U.S.S.R. following their disastrous blundering in Afghanistan.

In the late 1980’s, cries for sovereignty rising from Soviet vassals in Eastern Europe marked the beginning of the end for the U.S.S.R..

The eventual cessation of the Cold War came only in the wake of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union’s failed attempt to overthrow the government, saw their censure and banning.

Though mercifully over and with Russia in shambles societally, calling the end of any such hostilities a “victory” for one side or the other seems irrelevant; nuclear war was avoided, and with it the world would go on.

As a result, to this very day, the United States and Russia only ever enjoy an uneasy peace, and even joint initiatives always have an air of half-cocked readiness about them; each party shaking with one hand, and keeping the other firmly on their pistols.

Perhaps old habits die hard, but perhaps the world is simply not big enough for both a Bear and an Eagle.

Similar Cultures with Opposing Interests

Upon cursory inspection, you might find it strange that two countries with such overarching similar cultures, at least socially, would find themselves such bitter and sworn enemies for so long.

Though it is true that a significant language barrier exists between the two, the general religious and cultural overtones of the United States and Russia are largely similar.

Even geographically they have more in common than they lack, with both countries essentially being continents unto themselves, and home to many smaller “nations” among the populace, each with their own customs, dialects, and more.

Obviously, among two large and powerful giants, either would prefer to be the very biggest and the most powerful, singularly, and not content to share any given component of their empire with a competitor.

Isn’t there enough to go around? Is greed and a thirst for power really so all-consuming, so pathological among the leaders of men but they would balance the globe on the edge of a knife over a cauldron of nuclear fire?

Perhaps so, and perhaps that will be the graven legacy of mankind yet. And though it might be informative to answer these more grandiose questions, the practical reason is simpler and plenty informative enough.

Simply put, the United States and Russia have opposing interests when it comes to territorial ambition, the establishment of empire and friends lists.

No, I’m not making some joke about social media relations: as often has been the case, the United States has had it in for one country or another that Russia enjoyed good relations with, and vice-versa.

In such cases, as one country or another is making inroads in a nation that the opposite number cares about not at all, they would then certainly, suddenly take an interest in it. This, of course, never with good intentions.

If this sounds a lot like Cold War activity with the volume turned down, you are quite right to think so, and to this very day Cold War-style jockeying for position on the stage of geopolitics continues. Mercifully, though, at intensity far removed from that shadow conflict of the last millennium.

Though it might yet be properly called Cold War II or the Second Cold War, it is accurately and simply “business as usual” between the two venerable superpowers, and since it is business as usual there still exists, however small, the chance that some collision or lesser conflict might invariably domino into outright and proper war.

Lest anyone forget, despite dozens of arms reduction treaties, despite nuclear weapon draw-downs and eliminations, despite a policy of diplomacy and peace, despite the modern emphasis on low-intensity and asymmetric warfare hundreds upon hundreds of titanic nuclear weapons, tactical and strategic, remain armed and ready in the arsenals of both powers.

They sit slumbering in their silos, glide silently through the oceans aboard submarines, and await being hoisted into the bomb bays of jets. They might yet usher in their terrible purpose.

Is Massive Deterrence Enough?

During the Cold War, except for a few perilous days and weeks, most civilians, and indeed many government officials and military officers were content enough living under the shadow of nuclear war because they trusted in the policy of “mutually assured destruction”, or MAD.

The idea that any nuclear strike or any escalation of hostilities that warranted a nuclear strike in retaliation would see both belligerents utterly annihilated thanks to profligate deployments of their foe’s own nuclear weapons.

Back then, the notion of shooting down or otherwise intercepting such weapons reliably was mostly a pipe dream.

Even if it was technically achievable a majority of the time, the law of large numbers meant that plenty of weapons would get through to devastate major population centers, strategic military targets, command and control nerve centers, and of course, government headquarters.

Though the aforementioned nuclear “disarmaments” today have immensely reduced the total number of weapons owned and kept in readiness by the United States and Russia they each still have more than enough to scour the globe in atomic fire.

Militarily it seems unthinkable to not worry over nuclear weapons, at least to the casual observer, but the times they are a-changing, and we must ask ourselves if strategic nuclear capability, including pinpoint and follow-on strike capability, is enough to prevent the outbreak of open war.

Maybe, maybe not. The dawn of fourth-generation warfare has hardly rendered these nuclear weapons irrelevant, but they are now, definitely, a non-starter as far as accomplishing strategic objectives goes in the 21st century.

More likely they would become the final option and “middle finger” available to a losing superpower.

In fact, the current state of affairs might actually be assured by the presence of such weapons, and though they could prevent the next big slam-bang roll-the-tanks war, they have almost certainly greased the groove for an era of perpetual low intensity and asymmetric warfare between the U.S., and Russia for some time to come.

Perpetual but Limited Conflict

As mentioned above, it is “business as usual” to this very day between the United States and Russia, and it shows no signs of relenting anywhere in the near future.

Russia foments hatred against the United States in such places as Iran and even China, though China hardly needs any reasons besides its own to buck relations with the United States.

United States meddling in Georgia, Turkey and former states of the Soviet Union continues to agitate Russia, and they respond in kind, arming groups and providing intelligence to those hostile to the United States or its interests down to the local, small-scale level.

This is really where the rubber meets the road, because as history has shown us time and time again, small and seemingly inconsequential events that are barely worthy of a mention in the D columns of any newspaper have a way of spiraling out of control, and taking on a life all their own.

Like the single coal falling off of a cigarette that results in a raging firestorm or the tumbling of a tiny pebble that inevitably causes a devastating avalanche, these local slap-fights could potentially result in a chain of events that sees smaller and less capable nations call upon their strategic alliances, mutual defense pacts and geographic allies to fight with them or on their behalf.

We already had a taste of this in the recent Syrian conflicts, but after a couple of bloody noses shared by the U.S. and Russia, any conflict more severe was thankfully forestalled. Even limited head-to-head fights of this nature are showing signs of increasing escalation.

Throughout the Trump presidency, America made good on its non-interventionist policy in the Middle East, but with changing regimes comes changing attitudes on implementation of U.S. designs in the region, and once America gets mired in Yet Another Mideast War you can bet Russia will be there, one way or another.

One misstep might be enough to once again set both powers on a collision course for open conflict.

Is U.S. Seclusion Enough?

Throughout the modern era, the United States has enjoyed military advantages that very few nations have: incredible amounts of resources, allies with which it has nominally good relations to its north and south, and the massive geographic hurdle and hedge against invasion presented by being flanked by two enormous oceans.

Indeed, trying to put boots on the ground in the United States in any meaningful way has been nothing short of a boondoggle and pipe dream for any nation that might have attempted it.

The United States has always sought to leverage this comparative isolation to ensure safe supply lines, and transit to bases far outside of the conflict zones where it prosecutes its wars in any theater, with those bases typically being hosted by a country neighboring the “invadee” or elsewhere in the region.

The United States is generally highly competent, and that professionalism combined with the typical invulnerability of its logistics train, however massive and lengthy it might be, has assured their success in conflicts around the globe, or if not success at least insulated them from abject failure and terrible losses.

But that invulnerability owed more to the U.S.’s foes lack of capability more than any real unassailability, at least when it comes to in-theater presence.

Changing times means new vulnerabilities and new opportunities for those who would exploit them. Warfare, much like everything else these days, is distributed. Bands of mercenaries and cultivated partisans have replaced contingents of uniformed troops for major powers in many places.

Expensive, difficult to maintain and difficult to operate, strike aircraft and recon platforms have been replaced or at least subverted by modified off-the-shelf drones and cameras.

The higher and higher the technology level of any given piece of equipment, the more vulnerable it is to primitive attack, a maxim that the U.S. is currently struggling with at home during a new wave of prolonged societal unrest and pseudo-revolutionary activity.

One had better believe that the United States’ enemies have certainly observed and learned this lesson, and only a fool would believe that they are not themselves at least partially responsible for instigating the current round of troubles that the U.S. is dealing with.

It is all but a certainty that this type of activity will be scaled up and unleashed along every possible vector both domestically and overseas the next time the U.S. and Russia lock horns for real.

It is not hard to imagine a scenario where the incredibly long and intricate United States supply chain could come under simultaneous attack in multiple places using multiple tactics.

It is already vulnerable to conventional attack, but how much more vulnerable might U.S. bases, installation and infrastructure be to expert-level cyber attacks combined with swarms of suicide drones, and small, sharp direct-action carried out by regular or irregular forces?

How will the U.S. protect itself against sporadic attacks that have virtually no pre-attack signature, ones that inflict massive losses and difficulty out of all proportion with their cost and complexity?

This vulnerability extends far beyond military targets; the United States civil infrastructure, everything from power and transit lines to the public utilities in major cities is generally old, tottering and in need of major overhaul, to say nothing of insulation and protection against a host of modern threats.

As of yet, this overhaul is not forthcoming; the question and the “can” being continually being kicked farther and farther down the road by an increasingly lame Congress that is more than content to persecute their internecine and petty squabbles instead of running the nation.

The United States strategy, if you can call it that, seems to be one of facing inevitability, and banking on absorbing the blow thanks to its immense size more than anything else.

The New Paradigm

The United States is not invulnerable, and in several ways is more vulnerable now than ever if opponents are willing to capitalize on those vulnerabilities.

The old saying that war never changes is patently false in any but the most romantic interpretation; the rules, tools and procedures of war do change, sometimes changing fast and in ways that we cannot expect and can only hope to prepare for as quickly as possible.

The U.S. does not seem to be preparing quickly enough, and to most observers Russia at least does not seem to be too intent to change their way of doing business either, meaning that business-as-usual shall continue.

Massive set-piece battles using swarms of tanks, armored personnel carriers, men and jets are predominantly a thing of the past. Most conflicts are of long duration but low intensity, and marked by sort of inverse proportion of brinkmanship.

The smaller and seemingly weaker power tries to goad a larger power into an overwhelmingly destructive response to comparatively inconsequential actions, thus shifting the sentiment of the public and the world against the larger force.

In essence, and it is a good comparison, the larger power becomes the “bullies” and ergo the bad guys, creating a chain-reaction of negative outcomes among observers and allies alike.

The United States has been reasonably successful in conducting these low intensity operations for a long period of time, but it has come at the cost of an extraordinary amount of treasure and many lives lost for no meaningful game.

In regards to weapons and equipment for force projection, the United States still relies on massive blue water navy ships that, for all their technological marvel and might, are increasingly vulnerable to sophisticated missiles, unmanned drones and other autonomous weapons.

The loss of any such “crown jewel” of the fleet like a carrier could spell disaster and tip the balance of power.

Fighter aircraft too are constant line items when it comes to budgets and funding, and these manned aircraft represent enormous investments financially and logistically that might not produce a return on said investment in any meaningful way compared to an unmanned aircraft of similar make.

Even unmanned aircraft might be categorically replaced or left behind by massed swarms of smaller autonomous drones working in concert as a sort of compound weapon system.

With increasing emphasis on cyber and economic warfare to get things done and move the needle on an objective, the U.S.’s dogged reliance on big budget and “big ticket” tools of war is seemingly puzzling.

An old maxim regarding the military industrial complex informs us that major powers always train and equip to fight the wars of yesteryear, not the wars of tomorrow, at least until they get their ears boxed and lose, but one would hope that the United States at least would recognize the perils of doing so.

Though Russia does not seem terribly keen to capitalize on those vulnerabilities in any meaningful way, at least right now, that does not mean that some other power is not prepared to do so or will not do so. But that, readers, is a discussion for another time.

Conclusion

Despite the trials and tribulations already attendant in the 21st century, and interactions that run from hot to cold before going hot again, Russia and United States seem to have settled into a generally peaceful though not wholly amicable relationship, one still frayed around the edges by the continuation of Cold War-era hostilities via proxy maneuvering.

This is a dance where both partners know the steps by heart and so long as no one steps on the others toes a clash should be avoided.

Nonetheless, it takes little imagination to think of a scenario where the United States and Russia might be dragged inexorably into a war between superpowers.

via Modern Survival Online https://ift.tt/2OXiVi4

Exactly What Color Berries Are Safe to Eat?

Anytime one is in a wilderness survival situation bolstering your calorie intake by taking advantage of natural food sources is always a good idea. Depending upon your region and the current climate one of the best and not to mention tastiest gatherable foods found in nature are berries. But like so many things found in the wilderness not all berries are safe to eat, and some contain deadly toxins.

So, what colors of berries should you eat? As it turns out, there is no color of berry found in nature that is 100% safe to eat all the time. Typical colors of common berries (including yellow, white, red, purple and black) are all present in species that are edible and also present in species that are inedible, or even dangerous. There is no rule of thumb or guideline that you can bet your life on! Good ones include elderberries and mulberries; bad ones include pokeweed and missletoe.

Naturally, this is a nuanced topic and one you would be wise to learn more about. It is possible to make an educated guess that is not likely to have lethal consequences, though there is much more to talk about before you can do that. Keep reading to learn more.

Looks Good, Tastes Good, Safe… Right?

When consulting advice about which wild berries are edible, you will encounter all kinds of rules of thumb intended to help keep you safe by preventing you from making a potentially deadly mistake.

Much of the time, these rules often factor in percentages about which color berries are most often safe, or most often dangerous.

The exact figures vary, but typically sound something like this: “the majority of black and blue berries are safe to eat; approximately half of red berries are poisonous; almost all white and yellow berries are dangerous.”

If it sounds like there was a ton of approximating and a lot of wholly unscientific generalizations going on, you are quite correct!

Still, knowing the general distribution of edible versus toxic berries in a given class or color is helpful, isn’t it? Not really.

Would you want to roll the dice on a literal 50/50 chance that a berry you’re going to eat will poison you in a survival situation where you are already behind the eight ball, so to speak? That’s what you’ll get if you want to start chowing down on unknown red-colored berries.

And what are your chances with blue or black berries? How much is the majority? Is that the majority of the black or blue berries in your state, in your region, in your country or in the world? Do those percentages change depending on where you are? Just what are your chances?

One in ten, one in six, one in five or one in three? Does that change your assessment? Would you gamble your life even on a one in ten chance? That’s what you might in fact be doing if you follow this old and entirely non-useful advice.

You cannot even necessarily rely on your own sense of taste to keep you safe. Plenty of highly toxic berries don’t necessarily taste awful. They might taste somewhere between too tart and astringent to even pleasantly sweet.

On the flip side, some edible, nutritious berries don’t taste that great, and some even taste distinctly strange with a musky or vaguely metallic flavor.

There is No Substitute for Knowing

Simply stated, there is no substitute for genuine expert knowledge of what kind of plant and what kind of berry you are looking at and that is because these course rules of thumb are so coarse and have so many exceptions as to be basically useless in anything but the most desperate, dire circumstances imaginable.

You have to know if you are looking at entirely edible (if tart) chokeberries, or distinctly unpalatable and potentially toxic Virginia creeper berries. You must be able to distinguish the Huckleberry from pokeweed berries and muscadines from mistletoe.

Screwing up in any comparison, or just taking a chance on random berries you find growing could see you fall grievously ill at best or even perish at worst.

Even the generally reliable and highly methodical field edibility tests when dealing with an unknown or suspect berry or other plant can fail you because certain toxic compounds do not exhibit any hazardous effects until hours after ingestion. This is one of those times where you have to know what you are doing and exactly what kind of plant and berry you are dealing with.

A considerable amount of time, experience and training in the field can furnish you with this knowledge, but for those lacking in lived experience a comprehensive, detailed and full color field guide can help you distinguish edible from poisonous plants, including their fruit.

5 Wild Berries You Should Eat and 5 You Should Avoid

If you are serious about prepping and especially if you habitually visit pristine wilderness areas or plan on bugging out into the deep country, you probably cannot afford to opt out of learning which plants and berries are edible and which aren’t. You might say you are just going to abstain from eating berries entirely, but if you do that you’ll be missing out on one of the tastiest and the most nutritious and vitamin packed wild food sources available to you.

All kinds of wild berries are absolutely delicious, contain all sorts of essential vitamins and many other helpful compounds that promote tissue and organ health and even improve brain health and mental function. Many berries are labeled superfoods for a reason, and the good ones are ripe and ready for the picking if you know what you’re looking for.

In the remainder of this article we will share with you five wild berries that you should be looking for and eating when out in nature and five that only look appetizing but you should definitely avoid. In the latter category the ill effects of consumption range from diarrhea and nausea to organ failure and death. Time to brush up on that horticultural knowledge, eh?

5 Good Berries

Huckleberry

The charmingly named huckleberry is native to North America, and looks very much like a blueberry with a typical very dark blue to purplish color and a plump, round firmness. Note that some huckleberries may be red or black in color.

Huckleberries at peak freshness are tart but fairly sweet and are greatly beloved as an ingredient in all kinds of toppings, desserts and beverages. They are also a nutritional powerhouse that you should partake of whenever you can.

But do take care, because huckleberries are a common blueberry-lookalike that can easily resemble other blue or black berries that you should not eat.

Mulberry

Mulberries are a clustering berry typically found growing and subtropical regions of both the northern and southern hemispheres. With more than a passing resemblance to large, misshapen raspberries, these berries are sweet, juicy and excellent in pie filling, preserves and in syrups.

They are also a popular component of herbal teas, positively jam-packed with vitamins B, C among others as well as magnesium and potassium. More impressively, mulberries are also an excellent natural source of iron.

Muscadines

An oddball, muscadines are a berry that sprouts on a grapevine species common to North America, and in color can range anywhere from black to plum to a brownish, bronze color.

Muscadines are notable for extraordinarily high amounts of vitamin B2 and solid amounts of fiber, with even a small serving providing nearly a fifth of your recommended daily intake.

Muscadines are reported to taste a little different, with flesh that is closer to that of a plum then the grapes they resemble and are also typically possessed of a sweet but vaguely musky flavor. How weird!

This is not going to be the favorite of everyone, but they are undeniably a great survival food if you can find them.

Chokeberry

These wetland and swamp growing berries are endemic only to the eastern regions of North America. Depending upon the species they may be black, red or purple.

They are often quite tart but usually have some sweetness to them and are just as good fresh as they are made into a variety of dishes, including jams or jellies, juices and even ice cream or sherbet. These tangy berries are notable for being extremely high in antioxidants including flavonols and anthrocyanins.

Elderberry

Your father might not smell of elderberries, but this berry is anything but mythical. Elderberries are small, round dark purple- or black-colored berries that grow in clusters on vine-like tendrils.

This is another superfood berry that is packed with vitamins and immune system boosting antioxidants, but they come with a catch.

First, they are typically very tart and tangy, liable to screw your eyes shut, and they also contain a certain alkaloid compound that may cause nausea when it builds up in your body and is potentially mildly toxic if you gorge on them.

This alkaloid is deactivated when elderberries are cooked, and so these berries are typically reserved for inclusion in dishes that require cooked ingredients.

5 Bad Berries

Pokeweed

A berry that is purple, nearly black and a common food source for birds of various kinds and certain mammals. Unfortunately, very few mammals can eat pokeweed berries more than once as they are decidedly poisonous to people, pets and livestock.

Only certain parts of the plant are edible at all as they all contain the toxin, with the roots being particularly dangerous. As the plant grows, more mature toxin levels increase and the juice from the berries is capable of being absorbed through the skin. Death usually results from respiratory paralysis.

Mistletoe

This greatly beloved holiday vegetation is perfect for smooching under, but you should not smooch or eat the plant itself, or its appetizing looking white berries!

This plant is actually a form of parasite that lives on other plants, particularly trees, and though that conversation is the subject of another article what is important for this one is that this plant varies widely in toxicity according to what species it is, and though usually not fatal ingesting, the leaves or the berries can result in vomiting, diarrhea, blurred vision, seizures or even cardiac arrest.

The effects are particularly pronounced and sometimes deadly if someone is foolish enough to make a tea from the berries.

Holly

Another gorgeous holiday plant and one with equally gorgeous and equally appetizing looking bright red berries.

Particularly a nuisance to children and certain mammals who cannot seem to resist the enticing, perfectly red berries, they nonetheless contain a battery of toxins and eating merely a couple of handfuls can prove fatal to children and the infirm.

Expect vomiting, stomach and intestinal pain, diarrhea and nausea. A common threat to domestic and wild animals alike.

Yew

Every part of this evergreen conifer tree is poisonous, significantly so, except the fleshy parts of the berries surrounding the seeds in certain species. The berries themselves often look highly appealing, and very much like an olive, though typically red in color.

Nonetheless, you should not ever try to salvage anything edible from these impressive trees as the toxins required to make an adult morally ill are comparatively small and rapidly absorbed upon ingestion.

These toxins persist even after cooking or drying, and these trees are well known killers of domesticated animals as well as wild animals.

Virginia Creeper

This climbing vine often produces attractive flowers and small, hard black to purple berries. They contain high amounts of oxalic acid that can inflict terrible kidney damage on humans and other mammals though birds are, once again unaffected.

The vine is entirely common and easily mistaken for other edible berries throughout much of North America and especially the American South and Tidewater region. It only takes a handful of berries to cause irreversible kidney damage.

Conclusion

There is no hard and fast rule for determining the edibility of varies based on color alone. There are dangerous examples of berries in every color, and just as many examples of edible, nutritious berries in every color.

The only surefire, reliable way to determine which berries are edible is by attaining expert knowledge of the plant in question. Mistakenly eating a toxic berry can result in significant illness or even death.

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Lucid Dreaming | Lucid dream. Did I meet another dreamer ?

Hi everyone, I've been lucid dreaming for a long time and can usually enter a lucid dream soon as I'm extremely tired. 80% success rate in that. About 5 years ago I had a lucid dream where I was sitting on top of two large pillars on top of each other in large open desert and the sky was full of stars. While sat I was aware I was in a dream, it felt incredibly real and still remember it to this day , still fresh.
They was a young dark short haired woman sitting with me , she told me she also was dreaming and she could tell I was new to this. I woke up. Anyone had similar encounters ?

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10 Survival Items that Will Fly Off Shelves When the SHTF

Most of our readers will definitely fall more on the prepared end of the spectrum than your average citizen. And it is unfortunate, then, that these average citizens that will place such a terrible strain on supply lines when a sudden and unfortunate SHTF situation strikes society. The shelves of every store will be stripped bare of survival necessities in no time flat.

What kind of items will fly off the shelves in a regional or large-scale emergency? The bare minimum essentials needed to support life as most people know it, things like bottled water, food, batteries, ammunition, gasoline, propane, hygiene supplies, soap, toilet paper and baby items.

When the chips are down, these are the immediate “life support” items that people will scour the countryside looking for in the immediate aftermath and onset of a long-term survival situation.

Chances are you already have these items stocked up in abundance. But if you don’t, or you have just been caught flat-footed by an event and need to start your survival cash from scratch right this second, keep reading and we will expand a little more on each of these items.

No Time to Waste

Have you ever rushed to the grocery store ahead of an approaching front of bad weather, something like a major storm front or a blizzard?

You remember how packed the store is with everyone in there trying to get a few last minute items, you know, just in case? Imagine how much worse it will be when something truly terrible is happening.

While it is instinctively understood in a time like that, that the longer people wait, the worse and worse their chances will be of getting the things they will desperately need in order to endure a long haul survival situation.

And don’t get derailed asking what “long haul” truly quantifies; consider that most citizens don’t even have enough survival supplies to last themselves and their families three days! A situation lasting only a week or two will seem like a very, very long time without these supplies.

It is obviously essential that you keep these supplies on hand, but just in case you need to plus-up real quick along with everyone else or start from scratch because of catastrophic loss you had better have your shopping list in mind and be ready to make one heck of a quick pit stop when the balloon goes up.

Time will be short, and the stakes will be high, so get in and get out with the following survival items that will be literally flying off the shelves before your eyes.

10 Survival Items that Will Fly Off the Shelves

1. Water

Water is a crucially important substance for survival, and the only thing you consume more important than it is air!

Many people focus disproportionately on food when they get caught out at the onset of a survival situation, but they rarely stop to think that they can survive for weeks and weeks without food, but only a few days without water.

While it is true that you can get water from all kinds of places, most found water sources require considerable purification before they are safe to drink.

It would not do to drink an unknown, sketchy water source in desperation, only to come down with some life threatening illness because of it.

The topic of water filtration can fill books all on its own but you can get yourself in a much better position by obtaining a hefty supply of pure, clean bottled water.

You should buy whatever you can at the instant if this is a rush trip, but otherwise multi-pack bottles or large multi-gallon containers are probably your best bet for convenience.

Remember that each person needs at least a gallon of water per day for both consumption and general hygiene!

2. Food

Food is definitely a survival essential, even though I just got done saying you can go for weeks without any food and still not starve. That is true, but consider that most people will begin to physically and mentally deteriorate (and deteriorate rapidly) after just a few days without it.

The business of survival will require energy, and the best way to supply your body with energy is by keeping the calories rolling in. It also does wonders for keeping your spirits up!

Chances are your daily menu is going to change somewhat for the duration, and you should not be buying strictly based on preference but buying for longevity.

You want to get food that is completely shelf stable and easy to prepare, preferably items that are in sealed pouches, cans or otherwise packaged in such a way that they require no refrigeration.

Remember, any event that has sent you scrambling to the store is probably going to result in a power outage if it hasn’t already.

Grab yourself some canned meat, soups, vegetables and other staples, and you will be okay for a time. Don’t forget you can raid the camping aisle for dehydrated meals that work great as survival food, and only require some hot water to prepare. The panicked masses might not think to look there at first.

3. Batteries

Batteries are an essential source of power for other survival essentials, most importantly your flashlights and radios. Since the power is most likely going to be out for quite a while, you will be plunged into darkness that is not typically experienced by the average person living in modern suburbia.

Additionally, where other modes of communication will fail, radio is likely to persist and will be one of the most reliable ways to get updates from the government and other relevant agencies concerning the state of things during the disaster.

Take the time to write down or commit to memory what size batteries your devices take and how many. It is generally helpful if you can standardize for one or two sizes, but this might not be possible. Now is also the time to identify what other gadgets require disposable batteries so you can get them all in one go.

Get more than you think you will need, as you’ll be relying on your tools more than you might think at first- even if you are being miserly with the power. Most flashlights, even those with comparatively low output using energy efficient LEDs will still burn through batteries with shocking rapidity.

4. Ammunition

It is a sad commentary on human nature that the predatory elements of our society will often take advantage of disruptions in law enforcement and utilities for their own gain, taking advantage of those who are vulnerable.

Accordingly, you’ll always see major spikes in ammunition sales and consumption ahead of rough times, including natural disasters.

You are wise to have a firearm to protect yourself and your property, most especially when you will not be able to count on the police to effectively suppress crime and be everywhere when called.

They will have bigger problems just like you. But the gun will do you no good without the ammunition so you’ll need to swing by the sporting goods counter or the gun shop on your foray.

Now is not the time to be picky when it comes to load or projectile; take what you can get, and be glad you have it. If it is generally reliable in your firearm we will call that good enough!

5. Gasoline

All of our readers living in hurricane-prone areas will already be well acquainted with the impending scarcity of gasoline every time a hurricane threatens. The same ethic will apply elsewhere when things are bad enough!

While it is true that America has an effectively limitless supply of gasoline when you consider the sheer amount of crude oil we have at our disposal and in reserve, the amount of gasoline available at any one time, or rather accessible at any one time, is indeed limited.

Gasoline is a fuel made viable only when many cogs of industry and commerce work together, both for production and for delivery, and the amount of gasoline that is in your town sitting in those giant tanks beneath every gas station does not add up to as much as you might be thinking.

Those gas stations are entirely dependent on daily or twice-weekly deliveries in order to meet the impossibly thirsty fleet of consumer vehicles that purchase it.

You need to be ready for this eventuality by keeping your vehicles topped up, first, and second by having a spare gas can or two ready to fill up at the first sign of trouble.

That gasoline might be all you can get for the duration, and the added range it provides your vehicle or extra time at furnishes to your generator, might make the difference in whether you survive or not.

6. Propane

This is another entirely mundane, common fuel that will become vanishingly scarce in a surprisingly short period of time when disaster looms.

Propane is most commonly thought of as a fuel for outdoor barbecue grills but it is also used in portable propane heaters, heaters that might keep you and your family warm and toasty when the power runs out, and other supplies of heat are damaged or disrupted thanks to the event.

In many ways and in most places, propane is even scarcer than gasoline for the average consumer. Most folks get their propane from corner gas stations through a tank exchange or purchasing a fresh, full tank for their use.

Propane tank filling stations and services exist in most locales, but they are far from common and are usually located remotely from commonly traveled areas for obvious safety reasons.

Even if you are able to reach one in a short period of time, chances are the people manning the station might have “abandoned ship”.

So long as you aren’t trying to grill indoors, a propane grill is an excellent option and a convenient one when it is time to prepare food, boil water or do anything else that you would normally do on your stove in the middle of a disaster situation. Don’t get caught out, and plan on nabbing at least two tanks of propane.

7. Toilet Paper

Toilet paper is one of those things that you don’t miss until it’s gone, as everyone who lived through 2020 painfully learned.

Any prepper that is worth the name will be able to improvise a solution for wiping their behinds and private parts using any number of things, both man-made and natural, but it will be better if you didn’t have to improvise at all. Trust me, your family will thank you.

The solution is obvious: simply stock up on toilet paper and you need to grab at least a package and preferably two while you are in the store on an emergency errand.

Even if the event you are facing has knocked out sewer service entirely, or even damaged your septic tank, you’ll still be glad to have toilet paper even if you are not flushing when you go.

It is just one of those things that makes life a lot more pleasant, even in the middle of a major emergency. Consider grabbing baby wipes, too, while you are at it.

8. Hygiene Items

Everything you use for your nominal, daily bathroom routine fits in this category. Think deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste, feminine hygiene items and the like.

Also, if you or anyone in your family requires specialty items, like pads or briefs for incontinence, catheters, denture fixative and so on make sure you get them now.

Quite a few items in this category are actually very difficult to improvise compared to other things on this list, so you definitely don’t want to be caught out with a short supply when trying to survive a major happening!

9. Soap

The value of soap can hardly be overstated. Keeping clean is not just the stuff of social nicety as it is critically important for keeping disease and other maladies at bay.

Not to mention it will do nothing to help your morale or the morale of anyone that has to live with you if you stink to high heaven a few days into the situation.

You can pick any kind of soap you are comfortable with here, and in a pinch any soap will do for getting your body clean. Traditional bar soaps are versatile, and can be broken down into smaller sizes if necessary.

They are not lost if they are dropped or their containers broken compared to liquid soaps and are generally easy to transport, and can make for good trade fodder in a pinch.

But if you prefer liquid soap, especially hand soap in a pump for convenience, you should grab a few bottles. The most important thing is just to have soap on hand for keeping bodies and other surfaces clean!

10. Baby Supplies

For those that have an infant or a toddler a running checklist of what baby care items you have on hand is probably never far from your mind. Indeed it is impossible to plan and prepare too much when it comes to care of the little ones!

Tiny children will be even more vulnerable and dependent during a SHTF situation then they are normally, and that means you had better have plenty of what you need on hand.

You should pick up all the baby supplies you know you will need, and a few that you wouldn’t anticipate needing. Make sure you grab a package of diapers, formula, rash creams, and other over the counter medicines, changing pads, and so forth.

Most stores don’t have an abundance of these items in stock at any one time, and depend on constant resupply so work fast because they will disappear fast.

You should also know that these items are among the most hotly contested and quickly consumed during a purchasing stampede so if you have a little one at home prioritize these items above everything else on your route.

Wrap-Up

There is bound to be a run on the stores whenever a major disaster or other society shaking event occurs.

If you are low on any given item on this list or through negligence or mishap are starting from scratch make sure you get into whatever local store will have these goods and to get them before they disappear. The longer you wait, the worse your chances of procuring what you need.

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Can You Eat Insects for Survival?

Any prepper worth the label will be prepared to face a survival situation by stockpiling the essentials. One of these essentials is food, and though you can live for weeks or even upwards of a month without it, your body and mind will degrade precipitously. Sourcing your own calories in the wild is not easy, but some wild-caught proteins are easier to come by than others.

Is it possible to eat insects in a survival situation? Yes, it is, and you definitely should despite the gross out factor. Edible insects include grasshoppers, caterpillars and crickets. Non-edible insects include bees, wasps, ants, and beetles. Edible, nutritious insects are everywhere, and compared to their mammalian and avian counterparts, they often have more vitamins, minerals and particularly protein per gram.

The fact that they are plentiful and far easier to catch only bolsters their reputation as a super source of survival protein. But you would be a fool to just dash out into the woods, and start shoving insects into your mouth. There’s a lot more to know in order to make your forays fruitful, safe, and hopefully a little tastier.

We will provide you with all the guidelines for safe and healthy bug-eating in the remainder of this article.

Remove the Choking Hazards

When dealing with any insect, but especially the larger varieties out there in the world, you will need to take care to prepare them for consumption just like you would any other fresh catch.

Many insects feature anatomical arrangements, defensive adaptations, or just strange physiologies that could present a substantial choking or health hazard when consumed as-is.

Spines, wings, wing covers, hairy sections, and more should all be cleaned prior to preparation and eating.

Some standout examples are the large and spiny legs present on beetles, grasshoppers and cicadas. The iridescent wings so typical of insects never make for good eating, and contain hardly any nutrition anyway, but their flaky, chewy texture presents a choking hazard.

Smaller insects like crickets might be eaten whole, legs and all, but if you are ever in doubt take the time to clean them prior to eating.

This is especially true if you are dealing with a species suitable for eating alive, as you don’t want their panicked thrashing potentially lodging a sharp spine into the soft tissues of your mouth or throat.

Cook ‘Em If You Got ‘Em

There are plenty of insects that are suitable for consumption whole and “all natural”, straight down the hatch, but chances are you will find the entire experience more tolerable, if not more enjoyable, by cooking your catch first. This assumes that you have time and resources to do so.

If you have any seasonings or other ingredients close at hand (or as part of your survival stash), you can prepare insects just like you would prepare other dishes. Additionally, various species take to various forms of preparation better than their fellows.

Some insects are better fried while others do better baked. Some are downright nasty when eaten whole, even cooked, but are a great way to add considerable protein to a soup or stew when ground and stirred in.

Herbs, spices, butter, and other seasonings can make all the difference in both taste and palatableness.

Don’t Eat Dangerous or Brightly Colored Insects

Broadly, you want to avoid chowing down on any insects that are known troublemakers or otherwise dangerous.

Bees, wasps, hornets and other common stingers are not worth the trouble much of the time even though they are edible when prepared properly. You might say this is one prey item that will “bite” you back!

In the same vein you also want to avoid entirely any brightly colored insects unless you are completely positive on the identification and know that it is safe to eat. The reason is that bright colors, especially bright patterns of alternating bands or spots, are nature’s way of informing both man and beast that the insect in question is venomous or poisonous.

Brushing up on your entomology knowledge is definitely a good idea if you want to incorporate the eating of insects for additional calories into your survival plan, but lacking this specialized knowledge you can usually, usually, stay safe by eating only insects that are found in drab, natural colors like black, green, tan, and brown.

This is not a 100% foolproof rule of thumb but then again no rule of thumb is.

Good Options for Dining on Insects

Well you should take comfort from the fact that there are edible insects to be eaten anywhere there are people on a full-time basis, some insects stand above the pack when it comes to nutritional value, convenience and tastiness.

Below you will find our recommendations for the best all around eats in the insect world, and also our cautionary word for those that you should avoid unless you have no other choice or specialist skills to prepare them safely.

The Good

Grasshoppers

Grasshoppers are a common and ubiquitous sight and temperate regions across the globe, and both they and their close relatives the locust are chock full of protein. These guys are often large and capable of impressive feats of agility thanks to their wings and powerful hind legs.

That being said, they are typically easy to catch by swatting them out of the air, or pouncing on them before they lift off. Make sure you remove the wings, wing covers and any spiny legs. If at all possible, cook them well to kill potential parasites.

Crickets

Crickets are highly common, and extremely plentiful when found. Another excellent source of protein very similar to grasshopper, crickets are often a fine choice for preppers due to being easier to find, easier to catch in quantity and overall tastier.

Fricasseed or fried in a little bit of butter or oil crickets are said to have a slightly nutty, almost shrimp-like taste without any additional seasoning.

Caterpillars

Caterpillars are another survival superfood that you should familiarize yourself with if you plan on eating insects. Gram for gram some of the most nutritionally complete insects around, caterpillars are also generally easy to find, and extremely easy to catch since they are barely mobile as it is.

You must take care as quite a few species of caterpillars are not suitable for eating, but these are easy to identify by a spiny, hairy or brightly colored appearance. Stick with drab colors and smooth, hairless bodies and you’ll be okay.

The Bad

Wasps and Hornets

Though many species of wasp and a hornet are beefy enough that they might be appealing sources of protein these swarming insects pack a ferocious punch, and significant social defensive responses that can make trying to collect enough of them to make a meal an extremely painful or even suicidal endeavor.

Even if you do manage to gather enough of them to make the struggle worthwhile, they still require copious cleaning to remove the wings and their venom sacs. Tough to do when you are covered in welts!

Ants

Most species of ant are in fact entirely edible and nutritious, and if you collect a large swath of them they can be pan roasted and mass very easily. The problem is that actually collecting them is quite a chore.

Unless you plan on popping them in your mouth and eating them raw as you go, you’re going to have a hard time dealing with these annoying critters for only a miniscule return on your caloric input.

Stink Bugs, Bombardier Beetles, Etc.

As you might have guessed, you definitely don’t want to eat any bug that employs a foul smelling liquid, acidic discharge, or other nefarious “chemical” weapons.

The same things that make them so unpleasant to deal with in life will make them doubly unpleasant for dining, so should you come across any such insect, leave it be, or if you discover this behavior when capturing it you’ll know it is time to put it back.

Conclusion

Cultures around the world eat insects as a matter of course, and that means you can definitely eat them safely in a survival situation.

The idea might be gross to you, but many insects are completely packed with protein, fats and all sorts of essential vitamins and minerals, making them an excellent supplement to your existing store of rations in a survival situation or a great “Plan B” when you are completely out of food otherwise.

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Here’s How to Pull Out a Rotten Tooth at Home

Though the thought of facing the dentist’s chair sets most people’s skin to crawling, it is nonetheless my responsibility to remind you as a prepper that you will not have access to a dentist, most likely, when facing a medical emergency in the middle of an SHTF situation.

It has often been said regarding self-sufficiency that you must become your own first responder. As awful as it is to contemplate, you must also become your own dentist when there is no one left to call when facing a dental emergency.

All kinds of bad things can happen to your teeth in the aftermath of a disaster, and physical trauma is not the least of them. Probably the most common type of dental emergency will be a rotten tooth or teeth incurred from a lack of proper dental care and maintenance.

Most cavities start out as a nuisance, or even unnoticeable. But over time, gradually, they will become severely painful, affect other teeth next to them and even lead to the onset of gum disease.

The pain will be absolutely dreadful, and this is a proper medical emergency; it is only a short hop, skip and jump for an infection to make its way from your mouth into your bloodstream and even all the way to your brain. That will pretty much be the end of things if it happens to you.

I will not lie to you: extracting your own or someone else’s rotten tooth is going to be one of the most excruciating and grueling experiences of your entire life, but it is possible.

People have been doing it for a very long time, and though it is never easy and is always fraught with peril, this is still a skill you should have at least an academic understanding of in case that fateful day ever comes.

In this article we will provide you with some advice and procedures for extracting a tooth on your own.

Disclaimer

The contents of this article is not medical advice, this is for information and entertainment purposes only. Neither the author nor ModernSurvivalOnlinec.com or the company behind it shall be held liable for any injuries or side effects as a result of applying the information herein.

Effects of a Rotten Tooth

The effects of pronounced tooth decay are many and varied. On the basic side of the spectrum you will experience pronounced pain, the kind of pain that can impair both mind and body.

Sleeping is often one of the first casualties as the throbbing, aching pain located in the head will make getting meaningful arrest difficult. Even breathing becomes painful when a badly rotten tooth has gone beyond the point of no return.

Eating, as you might expect, will be extremely challenging to nearly impossible depending on where the tooth is located, and you’ll have to scratch off a huge variety of foods from your menu. Any food that is hard or crunchy, even something like carrots or apples, will have to go.

Your increased dependency upon foods of a certain texture and softness will in essence eliminate certain foods from your food supply, or force you to process other foods into an edible mush. Not ideal, and double that for a survival situation.

Lastly there are systemic health effects to worry about. Infections of the mouth will be extremely common, and in some cases these can progress into the gums threatening more teeth or even the jaw.

Swallowing saliva that is laden with bacteria emanating from the site of the rotten tooth can eventually introduce infection into the bloodstream, a condition known as sepsis. This can lead to septic shock and death.

Gruesomely, infections that enter the body from abscesses in the mouth have a better than normal chance of making their way to the brain. Meningitis is far from unheard of as a consequence from a rotten tooth.

Perhaps most insidiously long-term health effects result from poor oral health, including leaving badly rotten teeth in place. Heart disease, stroke risk, and even impaired mental function are all decidedly linked to severe tooth decay.

If you are in the middle of a long-term survival situation, that means a dentist is unreachable or that there will flat-out not be any proper dentistry for the foreseeable future, you will have little choice: you must extract the tooth yourself.

Gather the Right Tools

Forget about what you have seen in various forms of media; if you are even considering attempting emergency extraction of a rotten tooth on your own, having the correct tools is a must. Gather the following, or on go on and add them to your stash now:

• Periosteal – These are a specialty dental excavation tool, sort of a cross between a probe and a miniature pry bar. These are used to help lift the tooth from its socket, but more importantly they help to separate the ligaments that keep it rooted firmly in place. Lacking these you can make do with thin sculpting tools commonly used by artists.
• Extraction Forceps – This is the money-maker tool. Extraction forceps are designed to firmly grasp a tooth and allow you the leverage and purchase to pull it free, but do so without crushing the tooth or damaging one that is already damaged. Not easy to find in a pinch, so get some of these now. Don’t use standard pliers unless you have nothing else; the risk of crushing the tooth and pulping the gums beneath is just too high.
• Tweezers, forceps or small hemostat – You’ll need these for delicate removal of smaller pieces of the tooth that are left behind, or break off during the main procedure.
• Dental Mirror – Useful for getting a better look at an awkwardly placed tooth.
• Pain Killer/Anesthetic – You don’t need me to tell you this is going to be excruciatingly painful in a life-altering way. Something, anything to dull the pain for you or your unfortunate patient is going to make a big difference. If you are using any injected anesthetic, make sure you know what you are doing before attempting.
• Gauze – You are going to need it. Bleeding will be copious after an operation such as this and you’ll want something both to help mop up the blood from the extraction site and promote clotting.
• Disposable Gloves – Infection through the mouth is always a risk, and the chances are it will never be higher than right now. Despite the grisly nature of this procedure, don’t skip over proper sanitation; whoever is doing the pulling should cover their nasty hands with disposable gloves to help cut down on the chance of infection.
• Reclining Chair or Bench – You will not be able to procure a proper dentist chair before the fateful day arrives, so make do with any kind of reclining chair or bench you can find that is stable. Positioning the patient at the correct angle will help things go more smoothly.

Extracting the Tooth: Procedures

This is it. You must do what must be done. Consult the procedures below, rehearse a few times if you must, and then get to work.

1. Sterilize Tools

Again, infection is going to be one of the single biggest risk factors in his operation and you must do everything possible to avoid it. Sterilizing the tools you will use is a must.

This can be accomplished through a variety of methods, including soaking the tools in barbicide or a strong bleach solution after thoroughly cleaning them. You can also use boiling water.

Take great care if all you have is open flame or another intense source of heat so that your tools do not lose their temper and fail when you need the most. Make sure you let the tools cool down before using them!

2. Position Patient

Get your patient in position and as comfortable as possible.

If you are working on your own tooth, you’ll have to assume a position as best you can that allows you to maneuver the tools and generate the needed leverage.

3. Glove Up, Mask Up

Once you have the patient in position, take the time to thoroughly wash your hands up to the elbows, don your gloves, and put on some kind of mask to cover your mouth.

You don’t want to be breathing into the site of an open wound in someone else’s mouth. It is at this point you should also take the time to protect the worn clothing of yourself and your patient, if appropriate: There will be blood.

4. Apply Anesthetic or Administer Painkillers

Whew, this is going to get bad. Administer anesthetic or painkillers to your patient, or give them to yourself. You must take care if you are working on your own tooth that you do not impair your motor skills, coordination or awareness.

Whatever the case, give this plenty of time to take effect and do some ginger testing to see if pain and sensitivity at the site of the tooth has been reduced enough to improve the patient’s comfort.

Lacking absolutely anything else you can take a big swig of strong liquor for courage, and a mild numbing effect. With this accomplished, it is time to go to work.

5. Detach Ligaments from Tooth

Using the periosteals, Begin to excavate the targeted tooth at and beneath the gum line. You want to work around the perimeter of the tooth sort of like you’re trying to pop a reluctant tire off of a rim. This will start to detach the ligaments anchoring the tooth in place and allow you to pull it free more easily in The Next Step.

Be advised, there will be plenty of bleeding from this step alone, so be ready with the gauze pads or cotton balls, and consider placing some in the cheek of the patient in order to soak up blood more readily.

6. Extraction

Using the extraction forceps grip the targeted tooth as low as possible, taking care not to crush or break off any pieces if possible. If the angle is correct you might be able to use a back-and-forth rocking motion to loosen the tooth in the socket, easing extraction.

Use the greatest possible care and the minimum amount of force needed to avoid damaging neighboring teeth or teeth elsewhere in the mouth. You don’t want to talk on the extraction pliers like you’re trying to start a lawn mower because if you slip or if your exit vector is off you can do more harm than good.

With lots of pain and plenty of blood the tooth will come out. If working on someone else, resist entirely the temptation to shout “You can’t handle the tooth!”

7. Inspect Tooth

Once the tooth pops out take the time to examine it, particularly the root. See if you can ascertain whether or not any parts of the root are missing or have otherwise broken off. Most teeth have only one root, but larger ones like molars might have two.

8. Extract Broken Parts

If you ascertain or suspect that any parts of the tooth have been left behind, you’ll have to head back in with your smaller tweezers, periosteals and forceps in an attempt to remove them from below the gum line. Make sure you get them all out, as they can lead to infection and other problems later.

9. Staunch Bleeding

The site of the removed tooth will be bleeding heavily by now, so you’ll need to staunch that blood flow.

Place a pad or wad of gauze on the site where the tooth was and have the patient gently bite down on it to hold it in place. This will be fairly agonizing if the anesthetic has begun to wear off, but is necessary to stop the blood flow.

In cases where considerable soft tissue damage was inflicted sutures might be necessary, adding even more pain to what has already been a painful affair.

10. Finished

Congratulations, you have successfully removed a damaged or otherwise threatening tooth when no dentist was available.

Your patient and probably you may very well be mentally scarred for life, but at least you aren’t going to die from a preventable infection.

Aftercare

Pain relief is obviously going to be high up on the list of needs after emergency removal of a troublesome tooth. Any painkiller is better than nothing, including such common standbys as acetaminophen and ibuprofen.

One that you should avoid, however, is aspirin since it helps to reduce clotting which is definitely something you don’t want in the aftermath of a procedure like this.

Also keep in mind that once the extraction procedure is finished, your patient or yourself is not quite out of the woods yet.

A gaping wound in your mouth where you used to have a tooth it’s still going to be ripe for infection, so if you have any antibiotics in your medical stash, now is definitely the time to use them.

If you lack such antibiotics or have not taken the time to stock them ahead of time you should remedy that deficiency.

Caring for the site of the operation is mostly a matter of changing out the gauze pads for comfort, keeping the mouth rinsed and clean (a warm salt water solution is ideal) and taking care to avoid eating or drinking anything that will cause further injury or discomfort.

Definitely avoid the use of straws, as the suction induced might remove a forming blood clot starting the healing process all over again.

If the patient is a smoker, they should stop for the duration of the healing process. Bruising and swelling are more than likely going to occur, and can be managed externally along the jaw through the use of ice packs or warm compresses.

That is pretty much all you can do, and hope that things don’t get worse!

Conclusion

Do-it-yourself extraction of a broken or rotted tooth in a prolonged survival situation is going to be one of the most harrowing and grueling things of your entire life, but it can and must be done.

Take some solace from the fact that humankind has been dealing with this very problem for a long, long time. With the right tools and some correct preparation your chances of success will be greatly improved, and potential damaged unmitigated.

Make sure you use the utmost caution to prevent infection and then follow after care regimens strictly so that healing will be uncomplicated and trouble-free. I wish you luck, and hope you never have to make use of what you learned in this article!

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Vermont State Knife Laws

Vermont is one of the more reasonable states in New England when it comes to the ownership and carry of knives, with very few overarching restrictions on type, length or any other essential characteristics.

What is notable is that Vermont is serious about punishing violations of the law, with surprisingly harsh prison terms, and monetary penalties being handed down to violators.

You may concealed carry or openly carry any knife you want except a switchblade with a blade measuring 3 inches or longer, and any knife with an integrated knuckle duster type handguard.

Unfortunately, due to the way Vermont interprets the definition of switchblade, this prohibition on automatics probably applies to assisted-opening knives also which is a bummer.

The good news is that Vermont is very taciturn with its laws, and the majority of the relevant statutes are short, easy to interpret and easily understood for almost anyone.

We will share with you the most relevant statutes below and include the exact text of those statutes at the end of this article.

What You Need to Know

• What Kind of Knives Can I Own?: Any kind of knife.
• Can I Carry a Knife Concealed Without a Permit?: Yes, except a switchblade with a blade measuring 3” or longer or any knife with an integrated knuckleduster handguard.
• Can I Carry a Knife Concealed With a Permit?: Yes, except a switchblade with a blade measuring 3” or longer or any knife with an integrated knuckleduster handguard.
• Can I Carry a Knife Openly?: Yes, except a switchblade with a blade measuring 3” or longer or any knife with an integrated knuckleduster handguard.

General Ownership

You may own any kind of knife you desire in Vermont including switchblades which are sometimes erroneously reported as being banned outright, though any switchblade that has a blade measuring 3 inches or longer is illegal.

Unfortunately, since Vermont has not taken the time to define what a switchblade is and is not in the statutes it is possible that it will be broadly interpreted and might affect assisted-opening knives in kind.

You should not own or have in your possession any switchblade or assisted-opening knife with a blade measuring 3 inches or longer.

Additionally, brass knuckles and similar weapons are not banned from ownership or possession, but are banned from possession if one has the intent to use them on another person. This might apply to knives of all vintages that have integrated knuckleduster type handguards, or large D-type handguards that could be used for striking.

Also one may not sell, transfer, or otherwise furnish to a person under the age of 16 any dangerous weapon, of which knives would certainly be included.

Vermont additionally lacks any preemption statute, and though the state is generally quite permissive when it comes to knives and the carry thereof of you will have to be cautious as you go from town to town because local laws could very well be more restrictive than the states laws and you’ll have to abide by them.

Concealed Carry, No Permit

You may carry any kind of knife you want concealed in Vermont so long as it is not a switchblade with a blade measuring 3 inches or longer, including assisted-opening knives with the same measurements (most likely) or any knife that features an integrated knuckleduster handguard of the type described above, though this is uncertain.

To my knowledge, there has not been any test case in the courts concerning someone carrying such a knife, but it definitely would not do to be the first man in the hot seat on such a matter.

Concealed Carry, With Permit

Vermont makes no distinction when it comes to the concealed carry of knives with a permit as opposed to without a permit.

Open Carry

You may open carry any otherwise legal knife in Vermont with no restrictions.

Prohibited Places

You may not carry your knife on the grounds of any school, into any school structure, aboard any school vehicle, into a courthouse or a courtroom.

It is worth noting that Vermont does not make any distinction between public and private schools in the statutes so it is likely that the term is all-inclusive.

Assessment

Vermont is a pretty solid state among the typically restrictive New England region when it comes to the ownership and carry of knives.

The only major restrictions are on switchblades, which are banned from possession if they have a blade measuring 3 inches or longer, and very likely a similar ban on any knife with an integrated knuckleduster type handguard owing to a general restriction on brass knuckles.

The state unfortunately lacks any preemption laws, which means you will have to pay attention to the local laws in the area you are staying or traveling. But so long as you can abide by these few restrictions and don’t have to contend with heinous local laws you won’t have too many problems in Vermont.

Important Vermont State Statutes

4001. Slung shot, blackjack, brass knuckles-Use or possession

A person who uses a slung shot, blackjack, brass knuckles or similar weapon against another person, or attempts so to do, or who possesses a slung shot, blackjack, brass knuckles, or similar weapon, with intent so to use it, shall be imprisoned not more than five years or fined not more than $1,000.00, or both. The provisions of this section do not apply to a law enforcement officer as to the possession and use of a blackjack, billy club, or night stick.

…

4003. Carrying dangerous weapons

A person who carries a dangerous or deadly weapon with the intent to injure another shall be imprisoned for not more than two years or fined not more than $2,000.00, or both. It shall be a felony punishable by not more than 10 years of imprisonment or a fine of $25,000.00, or both, if the person intends to injure multiple persons.

…

4005. While committing a crime

Except as otherwise provided in 18 V.S.A. § 4253, a person who carries a dangerous or deadly weapon, openly or concealed, while committing a felony shall be imprisoned not more than five years or fined not more than $500.00, or both.

…

4007. Furnishing firearms to children

A person, firm, or corporation, other than a parent or guardian, who sells or furnishes to a minor under the age of 16 years a firearm or other dangerous weapon or ammunition for firearms shall be fined not more than $50.00 nor less than $10.00. This section shall not apply to an instructor or teacher who furnishes firearms to pupils for instruction and drill.

…

40013. Zip guns; switchblade knives

A person who possesses, sells, or offers for sale a weapon commonly known as a “zip” gun, or a weapon commonly known as a switchblade knife, the blade of which is three inches or more in length, shall be imprisoned not more than 90 days or fined not more than $100.00, or both.

…

4004. Possession of dangerous or deadly weapon in a school bus or school building or on school property

(a) No person shall knowingly possess a firearm or a dangerous or deadly weapon while within a school building or on a school bus. A person who violates this section shall, for the first offense, be imprisoned for not more than one year or fined not more than $1,000.00, or both, and for a second or subsequent offense shall be imprisoned for not more than three years or fined not more than $5,000.00, or both.

(b) No person shall knowingly possess a firearm or a dangerous or deadly weapon on any school property with the intent to injure another person. A person who violates this section shall, for the first offense, be imprisoned for not more than three years or fined not more than $1,000.00, or both, and for a second or subsequent offense shall be imprisoned for not more than five years or fined not more than $5,000.00, or both.

(c) This section shall not apply to:

(1) A law enforcement officer while engaged in law enforcement duties.

(2) Possession and use of firearms or dangerous or deadly weapons if the board of school directors, or the superintendent or principal if delegated authority to do so by the board, authorizes possession or use for specific occasions or for instructional or other specific purposes.

(d) As used in this section:

(1) “School property” means any property owned by a school, including motor vehicles.

(2) “Owned by the school” means owned, leased, controlled, or subcontracted by the school.

(3) “Dangerous or deadly weapon” shall have the same meaning as in section 4016 of this title.

(4) “Firearm” shall have the same meaning as in section 4016 of this title.

(5) “Law enforcement officer” shall have the same meaning as in section 4016 of this title.

(e) The provisions of this section shall not limit or restrict any prosecution for any other offense, including simple assault or aggravated assault.

4016. Weapons in court

(a) As used in this section:

(1) “Courthouse” means a building or any portion of a building designated by the Supreme Court of Vermont as a courthouse.

(2) “Dangerous or deadly weapon” means any firearm, or other weapon, device, instrument, material, or substance, whether animate or inanimate, that in the manner it is used or is intended to be used is known to be capable of producing death or serious bodily injury.

(3) “Firearm” means any weapon, whether loaded or unloaded, that will expel a projectile by the action of an explosive and includes any weapon commonly referred to as a pistol, revolver, rifle, gun, machine gun, or shotgun.

(4) “Law enforcement officer” means a person certified by the Vermont Criminal Justice Training Council as having satisfactorily completed the approved training programs required to meet the minimum training standards applicable to that person pursuant to 20 V.S.A. § 2358.

(5) “Secured building” means a building with controlled points of public access, metal screening devices at each point of public access, and locked compartments, accessible only to security personnel, for storage of checked firearms.

(b) A person who, while within a courthouse and without authorization from the court,

(1) carries or has in his or her possession a firearm; or

(2) knowingly carries or has in his or her possession a dangerous or deadly weapon, other than a firearm, shall be imprisoned not more than one year or fined not more than $500.00, or both.

(c) Notice of the provisions of subsection (b) of this section shall be posted conspicuously at each public entrance to each courthouse.

(d) No dangerous or deadly weapon shall be allowed in a courthouse that has been certified by the Court Administrator to be a secured building.

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Is it Okay to Eat Dog Food in an Emergency?

If you get into a jam during a survival situation, and are facing a major calorie deficit to say nothing of legitimate starvation, you might have to broaden your menu a little bit.

If you are lucky, you’ll be able to procure some wild game or even some nutritious, edible plants. In case you can’t, you’ll have to improvise and one commonly available source of calories that is often overlooked is dog food.

Is it okay to eat dog food in an emergency? Generally, yes, but eating it does entail a certain amount of risk. Dog food is not nutritionally complete, and lacks several essential vitamins required by humans. Still, it provides a considerable amount of calories: protein, fats and plenty of other vitamins and minerals. But dog food often contains highly questionable ingredients, and is often contaminated with harmful bacteria right out of the can.

That being said, when the situation looks grim and there is no other readily available source of calories, dog food might be the first and only thing on the menu.

That being said, if you have any choice or influence over the matter you should try to find something else more suited to human consumption. In the remainder of this article we will delve further into the details of dog food as an emergency ration.

Dog Food Does Contain Needed Calories

Let’s face it; calories are nothing more than fuel, fuel that is absolutely required for sustaining and maintaining vital bodily processes.

If you are low on energy and starting to fade out mentally and physically, you can eat dog food knowing that it will definitely provide the calorie intake and general nutrition required to put more gas in your tank.

What’s more, these calories come from ingredients that are pretty much staples in most human diets, things like animal proteins, animal fats, different kinds of grains, and also added vitamins and minerals. You might even find eggs, vegetables, and other nutritious ingredients in dog food.

Dog food is typically fortified for the same reason that human food is fortified, in order to ensure that a working body is getting everything it needs for good health.

However, just because you and your dog are both mammals, and both have broadly similar biology that does not mean you have identical biology. Your dog is capable of eating things (with relish) that would turn your stomach or make you gravely sick.

Unfortunately, several of these ingredients are found in dog food. The very dog food that you are now considering eating…

Dog food Contains Undesirable Ingredients

I won’t beat around the bush: the animal protein in typical dog food comes from what is charitably called “animal byproducts”.

In layman’s terms, these are the parts of the animal that most people will not or cannot eat. This includes pretty much all organ meats, including the brain and the hide, as well as blood and bones of the animal contained therein.

On that note, the flavor of the dog food on the can is not necessarily the actual kind of meat contained within. Dog food often has flavorings, colorings and other undesirable additives included to make it more appealing to Fido.

That’s okay, you might be thinking to yourself. Lots of cultures around the world eat parts of animals safely and routinely that westerners wouldn’t dream of. How bad can it be? Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you because it gets worse from here.

The standards for ingredients going into dog food as well as the standards of care for the ingredients and the production are far, far lower than they are for food being produced for human consumption.

Preservatives, chemicals and flavor enhancers that would never pass muster for human food are routinely included in dog food and found in abundance.

The condition of the animals providing the protein that goes into the dog food is also often drastically worse.

Animals that have been chemically euthanized or died of hideous diseases including cancer and other parasitic conditions are often ground up right alongside the good ones, processed into raw protein slurry for dog food production.

Fecal matter also goes into the mix as well, either through accident or a total lack of care. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to eat cancerous flesh or animal turds under any circumstances, and I definitely don’t want my dog to eat it!

How about the parts of the animals that humans not only won’t eat but cannot eat? How about parts like the hooves, udders, horns, bones and so forth? How about blood or blood meal? Yes sir, it is all in there, much of the time.

You can also expect to find completely outrageous ingredients or additives in dog food from time to time, including ground up plastic, chemical bulking agents and other such trickery that unscrupulous companies both domestically and abroad will put in in order to increase profit margins, confound inspectors and meet weight quotas.

Dog Food Likely Contains Serious Bacteria

Okay so it doesn’t take a genius to see that the nasty ingredients that are typically omnipresent in dog food are unappetizing, and downright disgusting.

Since dogs are scavengers, and their biology reflects this, your dog will happily and contentedly chow down on almost anything out in nature, including rotting corpses (it’s true) and that can of dog food is probably a kingly meal to him.

Dogs in general are less vulnerable to the types of bacteria that would make most humans gravely ill thanks to their short digestive tracts. Our long digestive tracts do not fare well when exposed to the same pathogens.

Generally, most healthy adults can eat dog food with few ill effects most of the time. Assuming you do not get so grossed out you vomit as a matter of course, you won’t necessarily get sick from eating dog food.

The same cannot be said, however, for anyone who is already ill or is suffering from an immune system-compromising disease or condition, or is weakened from exertion or lack of proper nutrition.

To be perfectly clear, just because you are totally healthy does not mean you won’t get sick if you eat dog food; it is just less likely owing to your stronger constitution.

Another, secondary hazard attendant with dog food, especially wet dog food, is that you are unlikely to detect any serious spoilage unless it is way too late because it already smells unappealing and looks even worse.

Most people can easily detect significant spoilage in human food on smell or sight to say nothing of taste. You will not enjoy the same advantage if you are forced to chow down on some puppy chow.

Does Dry Dog Food Confer Any Advantage?

Dry dog food is generally considered more palatable than wet dog food, which is not something that should be underestimated, but regrettably the ingredients in both wet and dry dog food are largely the same, the dry dog food typically includes more grains by volume and additional binding agents.

If you have a choice between the two, I would recommend you go with dry dog food for no other reason then I’ll be easier to eat without throwing up.

Conclusion

As disgusting as it sounds, dog food is edible in an emergency situation, and will reliably supply you with plenty of calories from protein as well as carbohydrates.

However, dog food is lacking in a few human essential vitamins and minerals that dogs do not require, and so long-term consumption will lead to malnutrition unless you are supplementing with other foods.

Dog food is probably no one’s first choice, but so long as you are otherwise healthy it is a viable option for an emergency food.

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